window computers

hi i know this is a mac forum but i dont know anywhere else so im gunna get a desktop windows and i was wondering wht is a good brand for gaming and stuff like that (nothing like alienware too expensive) it has tro be cheap and runcounter strike and half-life and doom 3 with no lag on high graphics but it doesnt have to have a good grphics crd i can buy another one.

build it yourself. seriously, it's very easy and unless you're going super-high-end or super-low-end it's cheaper than buying it from a company. i like http://www.newegg.com for computer parts and such.

build it yourself. seriously, it's very easy and unless you're going super-high-end or super-low-end it's cheaper than buying it from a company. i like http://www.newegg.com for computer parts and such.

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I agree if your on a budget building your own is the way to go. And in the end you have the satisfaction doing it your self.

build your own. never EVER get a computer from a shop. we got our first PC back in 95-96ish... my dad didn't think much of it other than its an upgrade to our Amiga. then he found out how easy it was to make his own about a year later and ever since all our computers have been home builds. its so much cheaper and fun to build up. bloody simple too, i did work experience in a computer shop and they showed me what to do and an hour or so later i could build them.

just plugging in those little wires to the motherboard thats my problem or it used to be. i think they're colour coded now.

everyone i know builds thier own systems, or gets a laptop. then again Manchester is home to europes biggest computer market, extremely cheap hardware by the bucket loads, so its no surprise

You're joking right? PC advice at MR? Not that there arent plenty of people that could help you here, but you couldn't find a better place for this? Also, if someone made a cheap PC that could play all the latest, most demanding games without lag on the highest settings, it would probably be sold out.

BTW, I'm watching TV right now and just saw an Orbitz commercial where they had a mock 70's game show and what appeared to be two huge ACD's where the contestants were.

I'm what is called a 'hardcore' gamer. I use to be on Windows for the very reason you are, to play games. I decided its just not worth it and got my iMac. This baby runs WoW perfectly fine and thats all I need on the computer.

I use my Xbox, PS2, GC, SP and soon to be DS for my main gaming. I dont care for CS anymore.

As suggested before build your own through www.newegg.com. The equipment listed would allow you to build a top notch gaming platform. I have omitted a keyboard, mouse, monitor and other peripherals since I assume you already own them.

Price Range is $915-1069 depending on if you want SLI or not and whether you go with a Athlon 64 3500+ or 3800+.

I made the following selection of parts because you need a minimum video card of NVidia 6800GT or Radeon X800XL to get solid framerates at max settings on the latest games. You also need a minimum of 1 GB of RAM. The CPU is more negotiable I listed the Athlon 3500 and 3800 since they offer SSE3. Intel CPUs will not give you the same bang for your buck and more expensive processors are not needed you could downgrade to an Athlon 64 3000+ or 3200+ however. The Rosewill PSU has served me well, it has good 12v Amperage and it is cheap. Finally, I listed the 200GB Hard Drive since it is only $86.

Hope this helps.

P.S. I know full well that some may say go PS2 or XBOX. However, some people do not enjoy the games available on consoles systems, such as Rome Total War, MS Flight simulator and soon Age of Empires III. These and many other complex games are only available on the PC. Plus you can't play games with a mouse and keyboard on a console.

If you DO build/buy a PC; get a Pentium. those chips are amazing. probably why Apple will be using them

over the years i've used a 386, Pentium (all the way from 1 to 4), Celeron, and 2 AMD ones. the celeron is amazing for laptops, so cold. NEVER for a desktop however. AMD just felt cheap. my girlfriend and a mate use AMD, not through choice but just because it was cheaper, now they're both selling their machines for a P4

I cant quite decide over video cards. My desktop is running an ATI Radeon 9600Pro and its amazing, for what i paid for it and how old it is. runs HL2 in 1920xI forgot with everything on full (no AA though, dont need it at that res!). and Doom 3 on Ultra Quality 1024x768. smooth as.

But I've had good experiences from Geforce too. My 2 year old laptop has a Geforce FX Go5600 and it flies through everything... just not Doom 3... at all!

the whole 'get a console' idea is good too. get one of the current generations of console whilst they're cheap(ish). GC; £60, bucket load of free games+controllers. Xbox; get it chipped. use as a media centre as a 'simulator' game playing machine, same for PS2. just maybe not for streaming.

the 32 bit ones from 2+ years ago (around the Barton core days) were heads and shoulders above what intel was putting out for the price. unless you do video encoding, it makes no sense to buy an intel right now. The near future might change that, but currently they're being beaten. Especially for games.

as for the "hardcore gamer" who only plays WoW...what a concept. You might have to, as much as it may pain you, get rid of the "hardcore" prefix for a while. Playing a single game, even if you DO play it 24/7, doesn't make you a "hardcore" gamer. it makes you obsessed with a certain game. hardcore gamers are the ones that go to LAN parties and upgrade their graphics cards every 6-12 months. They have 6-15-button mice and spend their free time tweaking memory timings in BIOS.

And if you build it yourself, a 700 dollar PC can play any game currently available on the Mac (other than quake 3) better than any currently available Mac can play the same game. And q3, aside from being old and boring, "only" runs 240 fps or so on that 700 dollar PC.

I don't understand why the original poster bothered to post here, though...Funny thing is, most people who post in the Mac Gaming forum here actually play games on a PC at least some of the time.

and by the way, the xbox isn't the best of ANY world. 640x480 interlaced? no thanks. If I want that, I'll just go play mario 3.

what's better for gaming? AMD or intel? i'm pretty sure AMD doesn't have nearly as big a clock speed as intel but i'm not sure, whenever you hear about AMD its always AMD athlon 3500+ or something like that. i like the way intel does it. nice and simple pentium 4 3.2 ghz with ht technology or w/e

what's better for gaming? AMD or intel? i'm pretty sure AMD doesn't have nearly as big a clock speed as intel but i'm not sure, whenever you hear about AMD its always AMD athlon 3500+ or something like that. i like the way intel does it. nice and simple pentium 4 3.2 ghz with ht technology or w/e

with amd you never know how fast it is

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I'm trying hard not to be sarcastic or to drop on you from a great height, but all I can say is you should learn something about the subject before posting. Try googling for AMD vs Pentium benchmarks, or read some of the reviews on anandtech, tomshardware or arstechnica.

Huh? How does a CPU "feel cheap"? Do you mean it just runs slow or what? I can see how a case might feel cheap, but assuming the CPU is operating correctly, I don't understand your comment for something you normally never see or touch.

hi i know this is a mac forum but i dont know anywhere else so im gunna get a desktop windows and i was wondering wht is a good brand for gaming and stuff like that (nothing like alienware too expensive) it has tro be cheap and runcounter strike and half-life and doom 3 with no lag on high graphics but it doesnt have to have a good grphics crd i can buy another one.

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I don't see the point in PC gaming, but everything I hear says that either Alienware or a custom build is the way to go. Alienware has multiple product tiers -- one might fit your needs.

what's better for gaming? AMD or intel? i'm pretty sure AMD doesn't have nearly as big a clock speed as intel but i'm not sure, whenever you hear about AMD its always AMD athlon 3500+ or something like that. i like the way intel does it. nice and simple pentium 4 3.2 ghz with ht technology or w/e

with amd you never know how fast it is

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Clock speeds are NOT MEASUREMENTS OF SPEED. That Athlon 3500+ will have a lower clockspeed than a 3.5 GHz Pentium 4 but blow it away.

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